The Magic Kingdom begins exclusive use of FastPass+ today. We’ve updated all 50 of our Magic Kingdom touring plan templates to use only FastPass+. Each plan now lists the suggested FastPass+ start times for the attractions that will save you the most time in line, like this: Suggested start times for FastPass+ reservations: Peter Pan’s […]

The Magic Kingdom begins exclusive use of FastPass+ today. We’ve updated all 50 of our Magic Kingdom touring plan templates to use only FastPass+. Each plan now lists the suggested FastPass+ start times for the attractions that will save you the most time in line, like this:

When we updated the plans, we kept track of how many times each attraction was identified as needing FastPass+. It turns out that this is a prioritized list of which attractions you should use FastPass+ for to avoid long waits in line:

Peter Pan isn’t going to be anyone’s choice as the first attraction to visit. If you’ve got small children, you’re probably headed to Enchanted Tales with Belle or (when it opens) the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. If you’ve got older kids, you’re probably headed to Space Mountain or Seven Dwarfs. And no matter where you go first, you’ll probably visit at least one other attraction nearby next. That means you’re not getting to Peter Pan within the first 30 minutes the park is open.

Peter Pan appears on virtually every Magic Kingdom touring plan. It appeals to every age group and demographic, and has no height requirement. It’s a classic, if simple, Disney ride.

Enchanted Tales with Belle is probably ranked second because it usually doesn’t make sense to visit it first thing in the morning. Counting walking time to Belle and the elaborate pre-show process, you’d probably be committing about half an hour to that one attraction, whereas you could probably visit 2 or 3 other attractions in Fantasyland or Tomorrowland in the same amount of time.

Big Thunder and Splash Mountain are on the list, too. While they don’t normally get a huge influx of guests immediately at park opening, lines of 20 to 40 minutes can develop around mid-morning at Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain, as crowds make their way from Tomorrowland and Fantasyland.

Space Mountain appears on the list probably because of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. When the Mine Train opens, it’ll be the hot new attraction in the Magic Kingdom, It’ll also have a shorter height requirement than Space Mountain (38 inches vs 44 inches), meaning more families will want to ride it. The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is listed as the first attraction to visit in a lot of our touring plans, and it’s usually followed by other Fantasyland attractions to minimize how much you have to walk.

Attractions In Our Touring Plans That Never Need FastPass+

Some FastPass+ attractions seem neverto require FastPass+, either because the touring plan gets you to them before long lines develop, or because the attraction rarely sees long waits:

It’s also worth noting that we don’t usually recommend using FastPass+ for the Main Street Electrical Parade, Wishes fireworks or many shows, so they don’t appear on this list. FastPass+ at parades, fireworks, and shows usually only gets you a guaranteed seat or spot to stand. You still have to arrive early to stake out a prime viewing location, so you don’t end up saving much time. We think you’re better off using FastPass+ to avoid long waits in line.

The Best Times for FastPass+ Reservations at These Key Attractions

Now that you know which attractions most need FastPass+, the next question is when you should make your FastPass+ reservations. Here’s a chart showing the times our Magic Kingdom touring plans use FastPass+ to avoid long lines (yellow=morning times, orange=afternoon):

Our touring plan software tends to recommend Peter Pan a lot in the morning, along with Big Thunder Mountain. All of the other attractions tend to have their FastPass+ recommendations in the middle to late afternoon.

What To Do If You Have Other FastPass+ Attractions or Times

If you can get a FastPass+ reservation for the attractions shown, anywhere near the times listed, the touring plans will work exactly as shown, and your waits in line will be minimized. If you need to choose other FastPass+ attractions or times, our free computer-optimized touring plan software will incorporated those.

For what it’s worth, here’s the process I usually follow to create an optimized touring plan with low waits in line:

Select all of the attractions I want to visit during the day, and enter in all of the meals and breaks I want to take. I don’t enter any FastPass+ times at this step, because I first want to see what the Optimizer identifies as the attractions with potentially long waits.

Click the “Optimize” button and wait for the touring plan to be optimized.

Find the first attraction with a wait over 30 minutes, and see if a FastPass+ reservation is available for that attraction around that time. If I find one, I enter in the FastPass+ time that’s available, and re-optimize the plan.

I repeat Step 3 for the two FastPass+ eligible attractions with the highest wait times throughout the day. I re-optimize the plan after each attraction, because saving a bunch of time on one attraction may allow the Optimizer to uncover other ways to save you time throughout the day.

Another great resource for optimizing touring plans is our Lines Chat forum, where lots of folks are happy to offer suggestions.